When it comes to getting your garage door maintained or repaired, there is a myriad of options to choose from, from large companies to smaller, family-run businesses.
Here are some warning signs of bad garage door repair service companies to help you know what to stay away from:
A good first step in finding a garage door company is to visit Yelp or Google Places for online reviews.
With reviews, the thing to look for is not whether or not they have negative reviews, because all companies have bad reviews. It’s how the companies respond to the bad reviews that can give away their attitude toward customers and how they deal with criticism.
Even the best of companies are entitled to bad days, but more importantly, competitors often intentionally add bad reviews to the sites reviewing their rivals.
Also, if a company has an overwhelming amount of negative reviews, that is a clear warning sign.
A service-oriented company such as a garage door repair company should have someone – a real, live person – available to answer the phone when customers call. They should be responsive to emails and comments left on social media outlets as well.
If a garage door service company doesn’t respond to your phone call or email promptly and professionally, you should probably look elsewhere.
Once you have contacted a garage door repair company and scheduled a service appointment with them, watch the clock. If the service technician does not show up at the scheduled appointment time – or within the agreed upon window of time – that should be a red flag to you.
There are garage door companies who strive to arrive promptly to all service appointments, treating their customers with respect for their time.
If you hire a garage door company – and then feel as if they put you on the “backburner” or talk down to you at any point in the process – move on.
There are too many other companies out there who value their customers and who work hard to earn your payment by explaining the repairs necessary, process and fees to you in a clear, respectful manner.
Employees of a business will be much more likely to be insured, background checked, drug screened, trained, and the best representatives of their brand.
Look for companies with their own service technicians. Stay away from those who primarily use subcontractors.
If anything about the maintenance or repair performed on your garage door strikes you as sloppy, messy, lazy, or in any way unsatisfactory, let the company know immediately.
Will they return to make it right? Or are they suddenly nowhere to be found? Obviously, how they respond will determine if you should continue with them or seek help elsewhere.
And finally, our seventh warning sign of a bad garage door service company is hidden fees. Some garage door companies charge a trip fee to come to your house, before they even begin doing any work, or try to sell you a brand new garage door when a part repair would be more affordable.
Check out a few different companies’ websites to see if they publish their prices. Do prices include installation, and what does installation include? If their prices seem too low compared to the competition, chances are they may be trying to hide something.
Hopefully, with these 7 warning signs, you can avoid the costly and frustrating mistake of hiring a bad garage door service company.
